


Welcome to the Bay Area!

by pennysparrow



Category: DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Mentioned Lian Harper, mentioned Cissie King-Jones, mentioned Linda Park - Freeform, mentioned Mia Dearden, mentioned Roy Harper, minor Irey and Jai West, minor Victor Stone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-22 18:48:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10702941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparrow/pseuds/pennysparrow
Summary: Nobody really knows who the shirt actually belongs to anymore but the corny souvenir sure gets around.





	1. Chapter 1

Anyone who was a member of the Teen Titans at any point in their hero career could likely tell you stories of The Shirt. It was an ugly, old t-shirt the true owner of which had been lost to history. The orange cotton fabric had been worn and washed to the perfect softness and the cheery saying across the chest was worn to near illegibility. "Welcome to the Bay Area!" could just barely be read in pink lettering while the bright green palm trees that stood on either side had managed to weather the wear. 

***

Tim could vividly remember the first time he wore The Shirt. He had just collapsed onto Dick's couch in his Bludhaven apartment still dressed in his Robin gear. His parents were out of town again and he didn't really want a lecture about spending time with his friends from Bruce after the long mission so Dick's place it was. The older boy had pulled him from his daze, tugging on his cape to pull him off the sofa. "C'mon. Off. You smell and I'm almost positive you've got monster guts on you and I am not having that on my couch. Go, shower, then sleep." Tim had given in to Dick's shoving him towards the bathroom but he had mumbled something about a change of clothes on the way only to be told "Don't worry bout it. Just try not to fall asleep in there, I can't afford that kind of water bill." When Tim had emerged a pair of Dick's old sweats and The Shirt had been waiting for him.

"What, in the name of all that is good and holy in the world, is this?" Tim had asked as he tugged at the hem, trying to better read the faded words.

Dick had shrugged, "I think Wally gave it to me one time when I had crashed at his place? Honestly don't know so don't worry about getting it back to me."

Tim had wrinkled his nose at the hideous thing before collapsing back onto the couch and dozing off halfway through some movie with Dick.

***

Dick had indeed received The Shirt from Wally. He had been at the speedster's house to help out with the twins while Linda was on an overseas assignment. How she thought her husband and his best friend would be up to the task escapes him, as does why none of their usual go-to sitters couldn't help out. That was irrelevant because in Dick's opinion he was being an awesome uncle as he held Irey's hand and they jumped into the largest puddle they could find. The girl laughed as the water splashed around her rainboots. Wally was on the other side of the park's basketball court playing an odd game of puddle leapfrog with Jai. Suddenly, Dick felt himself being tugged in the direction of the merry-go-round, the old fashioned kind that you ran around to push before jumping on. He looked down and Irey looked back at him with a grin, "Please Uncle Dick?" The puppy dog eyes were too much so with a laugh and a nod he let Irey pull him over to it.

Dick decided that if he was going to be pushing the merry-go-round then he was going to ride on it too. Placing Irey safely in the center and instructing her to hold on, he got a firm grip on the bars and started running. As the little girl cackled Dick ran with the platform faster and faster before finally taking a leap to jump on himself. He underestimated the slickness of the wet metal and with the ride's velocity he was sent flying off as he slipped. Irey shrieked and Dick face planted into the mud a good two feet away. Wally had run over and was already bending over to help Dick to his feet.

He looked down at himself with a grimace, already feeling the cold mud through the fabric. "Well this shirt is wrecked."

"You ok? Cause you may have a concussion and you're worried about some mud." Wally studied him with concern, Jai at his side now and Irey still sitting on the spinning ride.

"Fine. Little surprised but definitely not concussed."

Wally nodded and once the merry-go-round came to a stop helped his daughter off. The four walked back to the West house and once there Wally settled his twins with some snacks before disappearing into his bedroom. He came back not a moment later with The Shirt. "Here. Go clean yourself up and then I am so checking if you have a concussion."

Dick had complied with a laugh. The twins enjoyed how ugly The Shirt was at least.

***

Bart wouldn't sit still. He was covered in icing, as was the entirety of Wally's kitchen. It was on the counter, the cabinets, Wally, in Bart's hair, on his nose, and all down the front of his awful orange shirt. Wally thought that "cousin bonding" was a good idea but now that the cupcakes were being iced he was inclined to change his mind. All he could think about was how much he had to clean before Linda got home if he wanted to avoid a lecture. Bart's mouth was still going a mile a minute, talking about school and the Titans and some video he saw the other day and some girl named Courtney and this new video game that was coming out and... Finally all the cupcakes were iced.

"Ok, you're a mess," Wally looked at the younger speedster with a raised brow. 

"What?! I am not!" He protested.

"Bart, that shirt was ugly before but with purple icing covering it I have to say it's downright hideous."

Bart looked down at himself and grimaced. "It's not even mine. Found it lying around the Tower and I haven't done laundry yet," he admitted sheepishly. 

Wally laughed, "I feel that. How about I get you one of mine to wear and I'll at least wash that one for you."

Bart agreed, but first Wally made him help clean up the kitchen. By the time that The Shirt was cleaned and fresh out of the dryer Bart had already run off. Which is how Wally ended up its temporary owner.


	2. Chapter 2

Bart had woken up on the floor of Titans Tower, a blanket thrown haphazardly over his limp form after falling asleep with the video game controller still in his hand. Dragging a hand down his face in an attempt to clear the sleep from his eyes and checking his watch with a yawn. Bart froze when he saw the time and began moving at top speed; out of the living room, through the kitchen, up the stairs, down the hall, and into his bedroom with the on-suite bath. Taking what he was positive was the world's fastest shower he rushed back into his room to get dressed, only to find all of his shirts at the Tower were most decidedly in the dirty pile. With a groan Bart took off back towards the laundry room.

Once there he skidded to a stop in the small space and looked frantically for the "Left Behind Bin". A collection of odds and ends pieces of clothes and costumes that had been found in the Tower and gone unclaimed. Most belonged to past Titans or their children who stayed the night or weekend for one reason or another. Others were from the many who had access to the Tower and held honorary status but were not active duty. He knew this because as he pawed through the successfully located bin he found a small stockpile of various arrows that he could easily identify as belonging to a mix of Roy, Mia, Cissie, and even Lian. 

Bart yelled in relief as he finally found a T-shirt at the bottom of the bin. Not knowing it was The Shirt he pulled it on and raced off to meet up with Wally.

***

Gar glared at the basket of laundry, he hated when he pulled the short straw and had to wash the various things found and deemed clothing before they could be put in the "Left Behind Bin". Right on top was an orange monstrosity that he swore he destroyed with Vic years ago, and yet there it was glaring right back at him. With a wrinkle to his nose Gar squeezed The Shirt between his green tinted fingers, holding it up to eye level he stuck his tongue out at it before tossing it back into the basket.

As he made his way to the laundry room Gar wracked his brain as to who could have possibly left it here. He knew that he would have remembered someone wearing it at the big barbecue the week before, it was the type of shirt that definitely left an impression, but he couldn't recall it being worn. He tried to figure out who had visited the Tower lately that may have left it to no avail. With disgust he threw it into the washing machine with the rest of the basket before turning on his heel and marching from the room.

Gar made his way to the central control room, waving off weird looks from Cassie and Kori as he passed. Half falling into the computer chair he pulled up the video logs from the past week. Three hours later and still no sign of who brought The Shirt back into the Tower Gar pushed himself away from the screen in disgust. After ten minutes of mood-lifting office chair spins he pulled his phone out and hit the fist contact that came up.

"Hey! What? No! I am not in trouble!- Or a life or death situation- Yes, yes, this time. Now will you hear me out?" Gar waited as the voice on the other end ranted at him, "Are you done now?" The answer was no. "Listen Vic, it's just an easy sweep of this past week's Tower security footage and we both know you're more than capable of doing that while on monitor duty for the League." After a long pause a barely audible sigh came across the line. "You are the man! So The Shirt has made a reappearance and I'd really like to- Yes, I thought that too- Look, just help a guy out so I can open up a can of whoop- Fine, give a stern glare at whoever brought it back. Thank you." A few minutes and a fair amount of bad jokes and promised pizzas later Gar had his results. As well as an angry lecture to rival even Dick's for the culprit.

***

To say that Kon had planned on his shirt getting ruined from helping Cassie and her mom paint their house would be wrong. He had naively believed he would escape the experience completely paint-free but the Sandsmark women had other ideas. Halfway through the living room and the two had already started a paint war with him stuck in the middle. By the time the downstairs was finished Kon had paint in his hair, on his arms and face, and completely ruining the t-shirt that Lois had given him as a gag gift last Christmas. His jeans escaped with only mild damage and Cassie and her mom had warned him about his shoes getting covered in paint so they and his socks had been ditched long before. 

Helen had argued with him to stay for dinner and practically threatened him until he agreed. Cassie had merely laughed as her mother's stubborn strike was directed at someone other than herself and disappeared to find him a new shirt. When she came back it was with the most awful shade of orange fabric in her hands. He took it warily as she smirked. Unfolding it Kon looked at the faded print and design, with a raised brow he turned back to the blonde. "You have got to be kidding me. Where did you find this, Never 21?"

Cassie rolled her eyes, "Haha. Very funny. Donna lent it to me a while ago and I highly doubt she wants it back."

"Gee I wonder why..." Kon begrudgingly wore The Shirt throughout dinner and was extremely grateful when the emergency notification came over their comms. As soon as he got to the Tower Kon shed The Shirt in favor of one of his many black S-shield ones. Leaving it flung over the edge of the couch as he passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I added some more Shirt shenanigans. Oops?

**Author's Note:**

> I've had awful awful writers block in all aspects of my life lately so this was an attempt to break it. Goofy I know but I hope you enjoyed it! I may add more at some point with other characters.


End file.
